


Summer In Gotham

by MidnightMode



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A lot of them - Freeform, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Félix (PV) Are Cousins, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternative Universe - Magic, Bridgette & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug are Cousins, Bridgette/Félix - Freeform, Damian Wayne Feels, Daminette, F/M, Jagged Stone Is Luka and Juleka's dad, Luka Ships It, Magic, Magic-Users, MariBat, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Is a Mess, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Needs a Break, Minor Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Minor Luka Couffaine/Kagami Tsurugi, Miraculous Side Effects, Secrets, Slow Burn, Uncle Jagged Stone (Miraculous Ladybug)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25252066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightMode/pseuds/MidnightMode
Summary: Marinette knew her uncle Jagged had some crazy ideas, but this one was the best he ever had. Spending half of her summer in Gotham with him, Penny, Juleka, and Luka (whom apparently are Jagged's daughter and son), because he wanted to visit an old friend (and technically Marinette is family), there's this big charity event that Wayne Enterprises is going to hold, and because he couldn't let her favorite niece alone. She couldn't let it go, it was a great opportunity to the Miraculous Team to get help, not that they wanted, but they need to figure out Hawkmoth's identity, and they're taking the chance.But she did not expect a lot of things
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne
Comments: 51
Kudos: 458





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfic I've wrote in a lot of time, but it's my first one in English so let me now (know???) if I make mistakes, also does someone want to be my beta reader? If so please reach me at my Tumblr account: @midnightmode
> 
> Based of on Ozmav's Maribat au

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette gets lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First published: 14/07/20
> 
> Inspired by Ozmav's Maribat AU. 
> 
> Edit: 18/11/20
> 
> IMPORTANT!!!
> 
> This is an AU of an AU. I created this when I was 13 y.o. after I had finished Card Captor Sakura (both the anime and manga) and the Miraculous Ladybug Shanghai special was recently announced. Even though, I didn’t name it until a few days ago.
> 
> The Cheng’s are magic AU, I won’t tell anything else about this AU because ~spoilers~, save that the Cheng family is like the Li’s. I also messed up with canon and timeline, yup, that’s quite important too.  
> If you see any kind of mistake related to what I tell about Chinese culture in the fic please tell me so, because it probably will happen. It’s impossible to learn everything about Chinese culture through online research.

The first time she had heard of the big charity event that Wayne Enterprises will hold was half a year ago, from Adrien who’s going to assist on behalf of his reclusive father. 

Later, she decided to investigate and got impressed at the number of celebrities that were assisting and/or donating something.

And then, unbeknownst to Marinette, her uncle got her the opportunity and permission to go and assist at said event. She wasn’t expecting the opportunity to go,  _ yes _ , she thought about how wonderful it would be to go to said event and maybe see the gargoyles of Gotham.

Again, she didn’t expect it, however, Jagged Stone  — her honorary uncle — had other plans for her. He said there was no way she was going to spend the summer in solitude, completely bored, and stressed, obviously, he had to ask for permission first, which was “The most complicated thing I have ever done in my life” in Jagged’s own words.

She still wonders what did he do to obtain her grandmother’s permission, a.k.a. the most stubborn woman she had ever met. Maybe the fact that her uncle had children and a wife, who were going too.

Marinette didn’t know that her uncle had children and definitely  _ did not  _ expect to know them. 

However, that made it 100% better, since her two friends now were her honorary cousins too. That was dope.

It was quite upsetting, though, but she didn’t cling to those feelings, instead, she focused on the bright side of the surprise. Besides, she also has her fair share of secrets, as it was previously stated Marinette’s custody was shared between her parents and great-grandmother, papers might say otherwise but in the end, it was her granny who had the final word about her whereabouts on the days, weeks, weekends, summers, etc. Marinette stayed with her great-grandmother.

Jagged told her the moment he got the permission, a month ago. After fangirling for a few minutes, she began to plan  _ everything,  _ from the way in which she was going to make her suitcase and store all of the designs she’s making to how is she carrying the miraculous box; after all, she’s not only spending a good time at Gotham, Marinette is also assisting to the event as Jagged's designer.

And this a month after that, July first. Marinette is scared for her life, she was in an entirely different city, not her uncle’s fault or her brand new aunt's, or cousins.  _ Oh,  _ she was so jealous of them, they sure were warm and cozy right now, unlike her who’s trembling out of nervousness, and surprisingly even in summer, Gotham is pretty chilly.

The black-haired girl didn’t know what to do, this place isn’t the Paris she is used to hanging out when needed, this is Gotham (duh). Gotham doesn’t know Ladybug, the world doesn’t know who’s Ladybug.

Perhaps, not even all of Gotham will know, but if everything goes according to the plan, some will.

“Marinette! Marinette!” a voice was calling for her. 

Well, of course, she brought Tikki with her, an Akuma could attack whenever Le Papillon felt like akumatizing someone to spread terror in Paris. Max would reach them whenever that occurred.

“Tikki,” she finally managed to answer.

It was a good thing that Marinette ended up in a place where Tikki couldn’t be seen so easily because she floated to Mari’s face to get her attention. Otherwise, the flying kwami would have drawn attention from people.

“We need to call someone, Marinette.” her kwami sounded pretty desperate, but probably it was the cold she felt, after all, Tikki was the reason for her shivering. 

Even though it was summer, Gotham is a cloudy and windy city, and judging her luck, it might get worse at night. 

A really bad thing, honestly, how come this city could be this cold in summer? Summers are supposed to be hot, not this windy.

Marinette nodded, they needed to get out of wherever is here as soon as possible, and the first step is getting a phone to call for her uncle or aunt or Luka.

Because it was getting late.

⤝☀⤞

  
  


Probably in the living room of the Wayne Manor, Luka and his dad were worried sick about a certain petite designer.

It was somewhat usual for Marinette to get lost from time to time, thanks to her clumsiness. But this time it was different, she didn’t get lost because she’s a klutz, no, Marinette got lost because of the horde of “fans” who were in the airport when Jagged arrived.

Whilst it was normal for him to be received by a horde of fans, the weird part was that no one but his friend knew when Jagged was arriving.

**“** Well, what are we waiting for?” Luka asked without thinking too much. He immediately regretted it. 

An angry Luka was a truly unforgettable experience since he rarely got upset and showed it. 

He couldn’t help it, Marinette was alone, lost, and probably freezing, of course, he was worried. It would be weirder if he wasn’t that worried, Luka would suspect something was wrong with him.

The boy knows that they didn’t do anything wrong, also, that he shouldn’t take it out on them. But his heart voiced his desperation, and if someone was at fault, it was the horde of fans that welcomed them the second they arrived at Gotham.

Probably a crazy person, made sure everyone knew his dad was arriving today.

“Calm down, brother, I’m sure Marinette is fine.” Juleka, who switched to french, tried to calm her brother. “You’ve seen her carrying  __ Adrien  _ and  _ Kim, she is capable of managing herself for an hour.”

For obvious reasons they didn’t mention that it was while suited up as Ladybug, still, she could carry either of them without struggling much, but not both at the same time.

That got the attention of some of their hosts, not everyone knew french, but to those who understood them, it was a pretty surprising fact.

Well, being able to carry two boys at the same time is a big deal, especially if the person who did that was a tiny girl.

“I know. That’s not what I’m worried about. I apologize for overreacting,” he apologized in English

The Waynes accepted the boy's apology right away, except for Damian who seemed reluctant to do it, he accepted the boy’s apologies almost instantly when he felt his father's eyes over him.

“Don’t sweat it,” Dick answered the teen.

“Either way, we need to find her,” Bruce said and Jagged nodded. “This is Gotham and despite if she can manage herself, I would feel more comfortable if she were with us.”

“I agree, the sooner we find her, the fewer chances I get to be killed by Sabine” Jagged shivered at the thought. “If I’m lucky, Tom will only crush my bones with a hug.”

Then, Jagged’s family shuddered at the memory of the threat that Marinette’s parents made to them. “May I ask who they are?” Jason asked, trying not to laugh.

The way they reacted was amusing to everyone, and it appears that Jason found it especially hilarious since he asked about it.

“Mari’s parents,” Juleka answered.

One of Marinette’s parents’ conditions to let her go to Gotham was that he wouldn’t take his eyes off of her or he would pay the consequences.

Jagged was already doing so. Not knowing where his adorable niece is, was making his heart pound. He would feel the same or worse if one of his children was lost, and on top of it the sole thought of them being in a different country  —let alone a whole continent— and him in another one, just like Tom and Sabine were.

  
  


⤝☀⤞

  
  


Eating was a must, being cold made her hungry and if she’s gonna eat something she might as well do it in a warm and cozy place. That way she won’t be freezing, and she could ask for a phone or wait until they found her whatever happens first. 

In times like this, Marinette appreciates Tikki’s company; despite the circumstances in which she was told she was the next Ladybug.

She ordered a big sandwich with  _ what did they say it had?  _ Well, she does not remember, but she asked for a chipotle dip as soon as she saw it —the blame’s on Kagami and her addiction for spicy food—, also it had chicken? The petite Parisian didn’t care as long as whatever she ate was good everything was perfect for her. 

She asked for a dessert for Tikki, it wouldn’t be fair if only she ate something.

Marinette sat in the less illuminated corner of the small Café/ Restaurant, Tikki won’t be seen unless someone sat in front of her.

“So… we don’t know their numbers, and we don’t know where we were supposed to stay. I wish uncle Jagged had told me where it was...” Marinette lamented.

Tikki hummed in agreement.

“And we can’t risk transforming into Ladybug, at least not yet.” the little red creature commented. “Did you write their numbers as I told you to do?”

“You saw me do it, I’m not sure if it is in the backpack, though,” she said. She looked through her pastel pink backpack until she found her diary.

“Let’s do it Marinette!”

“But let me finish my food first!” Tikki nodded.

⤝☀⤞

Whilst Marinette and Tikki were eating; a search party began to look for the black-haired designer.

Damian and the boy with dyed hair were sent together to the shopping district, no way they would let the eldest Couffaine sibling look for the girl, well, alone, and much to Damian dismay they wouldn’t let him go alone, either. 

Since it was in the range of places she could be in. Damian was pissed, it was past sunset and there were no signs of her, even if she was able to manage herself alone and lost for a few hours, but that was in her home, not in Gotham and while Gotham can be pretty civil during daytime… the moon is already out. 

Well, that was until the boy’s phone began to ring. 

“ _ Hello? Did you find Mari? _ ” he asked. “ _ Thanks, I’ll ask Damian, for the place, he might now.”  _ Luka hanged up and turned to the grumpy boy “Hey, do you know about a Café called Vanilla & Cocoa*?”

“Of course I do Couffaine, follow me.”

“I’d rather be called Luka, and you know there’s two Couffaines me and my sister.”

He rolled his eyes before saying: “We’ll see.”

\---

The place in which Mari was, wasn't so far away as Luka thought it was. Only two blocks away in a corner. 

The café had a vintage-y style, it kinda reminded him of Sabine and Tom’s bakery but dark. 

As soon as they got in he saw Marinette, who was eating a cake.

“Mari!” he exclaimed in relief.

When she looked at them, Damian saw the most lovely blue-bell eyes, her whole being screamed pink and was tiny, as in tinier than Cass.

No wonder why the eldest Couffaine was so concerned about her being all alone, it was hard for him to picture her carrying two boys who he assumed were their age unless those boys were little kids. 

Then she smiled at her friend, the photos in the file his father had made for her didn’t make justice to her beauty.

“Luka!” the girl shouted, she took her backpack and a weird egg-shaped-ladybug-themed box and went straight to them.

“ _ You brought the box with you? _ ” 

What did the box had that made him surprised?

“ _ How did you _ —?” she realized something and let a sigh “ _ Adrien is gonna be so dead…” _

Again, they mentioned that Adrien boy.

“ _ I made him confess,” _

She sighed heavily, “ _ Fine, I’m in no position to judge your ways to discover my secrets, but I will let you know I was going to tell everyone before the summer ended, and did you tell someone else?” _

Even though Damian wanted to listen more about the big deal with the ‘box, they needed to leave soon, it was late, the café might close pretty soon, and he wanted to go home. So, he had to make an interruption.

" _ I'm afraid we need to go, Gotham's dangerous at night."  _ He said in French, much to the teen’s surprise _.  _

__ Both of them stared at the boy, especially Marinette, who narrowed her eyes cautiously. She studied him until Luka noticed this.

“ _ Oh, sorry, Marinette this is Damian, my papa’s childhood friend. Damian, this is my friend Marinette. She's one of my dad’s designers, his favorite one actually, also his honorary niece.”  _ he introduced them, they greeted each other “ _ Wait a second, do you speak french!?" _ Luka asked, probably thinking about how easier it could have been if he had known earlier.

_ \--- _

_ "Of course I do,"  _ Damian said.

He saw how her semblance shifted, she was no longer cautious and seemed relaxed. A bright smile that could rival Richard’s appeared on her pretty face, not so long after she relaxed around him. Damian tried to ignore the awe he felt towards her, but she made it impossible for him.

_ "Do you speak another language?"  _ Marinette, aka, the stunning girl asked.

A barely noticeable shade of red made its way on Damian’s cheeks.

_ "We can talk about this in my car, let's get going."  _ he proposed while heading to the door, then holding it for them to pass. And trying to act normal, but failed miserably at it.

He hoped that Luka didn’t notice it, but unbeknownst to him, he thought they would do a great match since the moment he met Damian.

" _ Thanks." _

This will be a problem.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Damian is grumpy, then he meets Marinette. Now he's moody.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied, it took me less to write the chapter, but in my defense, I didn't know it would. Also, thank you so much for your kudos and comments they made it so much easier for me to finish it with five days (I would've published it yesterday but I was helping my mom).
> 
> Forgot to mention, I'm an air-head and I forgot to say that the second chapter is (kinda) Damian-pov-centric, I will do that a lot.
> 
> Edit 18/11/20:
> 
> Thanks again to Anrim for helping me

Mornings inside of the Wayne Manor start early in the morning, today more than usual.

Ever since his father announced that an old friend and his family were going to stay with them, the preparations for their stay began. At least, they’re not even staying half of the summer, said friend has two children, Luka and Juleka Couffaine, the first one being the same age as him.

Little kids could be handled easier than teens.

What a lie Damian, you have a niece you know better than no one that kids almost always get what they want.

Apparently, that was one of the reasons why his father was so eager for their arrival. He thought they would be a good influence in the short time they would be staying with them. For Damian particularly. 

That was two months ago. A month ago, in June they were told Jagged’s favorite designer was joining them, said designer was MDC. That was something he was actually looking forward to, he didn't tell anyone though. Why would he? It was enough with the chaos his siblings were spreading through the manor, even Cass.

Although she didn’t participate in the same way as his brothers, Cass was smiling and pensive most of the time. It was scary in its own way.

Bruce made a file for the girl, because yeah it turns out MDC is a teen too, not a grown adult. MDC’s a pretty interesting teen.

They would arrive today, in the afternoon if the plane didn’t delay as Jagged had warned them of the possibility. That would make his brothers more insufferable since they were so excited to meet them. 

Reunite, actually should be the term. Considering they do know them, over the years, he has had his fair share of interactions with the Couffaine siblings, Damian remembers the first time they met as if it had happened a few days ago and not about seven years ago.

He was such a brat back then.

When Jon caught up with all of this information, he wouldn’t let him live in peace, he had a reason for not telling him yet and it was all ruined thanks to Jason. 

To make things worse, he didn’t know when Jon arrived at his own home, he just was comfortably seated on the large table of the dining room while his siblings, his sister-in-law, niece, and the boy himself, were talking about how eager they were to see them again. 

He wasn’t. Damian just wanted the madness to end.

“What are you doing here?” 

“First of all, rude;” Mar’i giggled “second I’m here that’s because your dad wants me to help you to not scare them.” 

Damian knew about who he was talking about, he scowled and sat next to his father on the opposite side of where his friend was.

Not that he was angry or mad at Jon, he’s just used to taking a seat close to his father. He was quite upset at his father, why wouldn’t he be? His father just invited Jon as a chaperone without telling him? 

He felt insulted, and hopefully, his father noticed. 

“Uncle Dami are you angry?” the voice of his only niece snapped him from his thoughts.

“Not at you,” he reassured her with a small smile.

Everyone knew that Damian had a soft spot for his niece.

It wasn’t weird for everyone to see Damian smiling at her niece, well,  _ it is  _ weird but usual for them. 

Bruce always loved it when he smiled like that, a smiling Damian Wayne is a rare sight on his’ youngest face. Usually, he only grins or smirks, not a whole-hearty smile.

“Then are you mad with me?” 

Damian couldn’t help but think if Jon had some sort of death wish because he was messing up with him so early and he had just woken up.

“Do you remember what I told you I would do if you kept pestering me?”

Jon swallowed, of course, he remembered he got mad after he made fun of his height, a week ago or so. 

Damian no longer was the 137-centimeter boy Jon had met when he was an eight-year-old boy and him barely ten. Either way, he still was the tallest of both of them. 

“Damian, I thought we said no threats, it’s too early for that.” 

“Yeah, brat, you can do it afterward,” Jason deadpanned.

Damian ignored them. He was done with his family and it wasn’t even midday he should have stayed on his bed. 

⤝☀⤞

Kor’ i and Jason decided to help Alfred with some last-minute preparations, turns out they didn’t have enough of who-knows-what, Mar’i didn’t pay attention when they explained why they were going out.

They left Mar’i in Damian’s and Jon's care since Bruce, Dick, and Tim already went for the guests an hour ago. Cass had ballet practice that day, and Duke was doing his daily rounds.

“Mar’i you should get down, we don’t know when they will arrive.” Mar'i’s uncle suggested.

“But uncle!” she complained. “Five minutes! Please!”

“Please get down, Mar’i. We don’t want father’s guests to have a heart attack.”

But he was right, her mommy told her that she couldn’t fly around when the guests arrived. 

They didn’t want the guests fainting over the shock, tamaraneans weren’t so uncommon now as they did in the past, but it could be surprising to see them flying around. 

So she listened to her uncle.

“Are they arriving soon?” 

“I don’t know Mar’i,” he sighed “ hopefully they will.”

“Since we aren’t allowed to fly around, can we play video games instead?” Jon suggested.

“Can we unca?” the little girl asked, she had that look in her eyes that made Dick do everything she asked for (well that’s a bit of an exaggeration), but it didn’t work for him, regardless of having a soft spot for kids or not. 

Still, it wasn’t like he had another idea, and Damian was bored.

“Is that a yes?” 

“Why not.”

The video gaming session didn’t last long, the guests arrived about twenty minutes after they started playing some game- 

They arrived looking agitated and somewhat distraught, when Damian counted them he noticed that there was one missing. The designer, and unless she hadn’t come at all which is highly unlikely; she was lost and that was a synonym for problems.

So much, for an uneventful day.

“Dad!” Mar’i ran to the entry of the manor, and jumped into her dad’s arms, he caught her. 

He smiled faintly, of course, he would be worried, his child noticed that.

“Is there something wrong?” Dick’s little girl asked innocently.

“ _ Oh my goodness! Dick is that your daughter?”  _ the man with purple tips in his hair who Damian recognized as his father’s friend exclaimed, surprised.

Well, everyone had high-lights, except for the older woman, her hair was completely dyed in some shade of pink. Jagged Stone wasn’t wearing make-up, as much as he enjoyed it, he wanted to look as plain as he could, so people couldn’t know who he was. 

So much for a so-called-fan outing their arrival.

“ _ This is Mar’i,  _ say, hi sweetheart,” she greeted them. Dick looked comfortable around them, unlike Tim who was restraining himself from fanboying.

“This is  _ the proof  _ that you’re an old man, Bruce,” the man said in a tone that could be read as if he was serious.

“But you’re older than me?” Damian just stared at their interaction, noticing how in ease his father was around his eccentric childhood friend.

It never ceased to impress him.

“And you have a granddaughter, my eldest is going to graduate from lycée next year,” he was talking about Luka, since both were the same age, “yours is married. Another kid Bruce? Nice to see you again Dames,” Jagged noticed them.

He only nodded in response.

“No. Jagged, this is Clark’s boy Jonathan, kids, please come and greet our guests.”

Damian noticed Luka’s uneasiness. Maybe he didn’t want to be here either Damian  _ did  _ snap at him years ago, or he was worried about their possibly missing family member. 

“Oh, hi, nice to meet you guys ‘hope you had a nice flight.” Jon smiled at them.

“We did, but we could be better if Mari were here, by the way, my name is Luka Couffaine, this is my little sister Juleka, as you already know this is my dad and his wife Penny. Nice to meet you” Luka smiled at him too.

“He does look like him a lot, and Lois,” the rockstar said, looking at Bruce. 

Jon blushed at the comment. “You know my parents?”

“I see them every time I’m in the states boy, being famous includes meeting reporters, I met yours through Bruce.”

His eyes flew all the way back to the eldest Couffaine, he had an impatient look that did not fit him at all. 

Obviously, it had to do with that Mari he mentioned a while ago, but everyone else was quite busy with introductions and small talk. This ‘Mari’ must be MDC, then. The time fluttered pretty quick as he was lost in thoughts, because Kori, Jason, and Alfred arrived in a blink that actually were twenty minutes, with a lot of bags full of who-knows-what, but they arrived.

He glanced at the boy again, he looked like he was about to snap. Which he did.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” he looked pissed with his arms crossed.

_“Calm down brother, I’m sure Marinette is fine,”_ the young girl tried to calm him down. He had switched back to french. _“You’ve seen her_ _carrying_ _Adrien and Kim, she is capable of managing herself for an hour.”_

MDC was pretty strong then.

Dick and Mar’i were the first ones to accept the apology, followed by the rest of the family (Jon included); then his sister did, the boy’s dad and his step-mom who looked softly at him, she too was remarkably worried. 

He was the last to do it, Damian hesitated to do so, but at the moment he felt his father’s on him he did, the raven-haired boy wanted to go patrol tonight. Bruce had warned him that if he didn’t behave well, he would certainly be benched at least this night.

“Don’t sweat it,” Dick tried to comfort him.

“Either way we need to find her, this is Gotham and despite if she can manage herself, I would feel comfortable if she were with us.” Jagged nodded fervently agreeing with his friend.

“I agree, the sooner we find her, the fewer chances I get to be killed by Sabine” the man looked as if he remembered something terrifying and shivered “If I’m lucky, Tom will only crush my bones with a hug.”

His family had the same look, Jason found this pretty amusing and couldn’t help

to ask: “May I ask who they are?”

“Mari’s parents” the goth grimaced. 

Jagged explained to them one of the conditions to let her honorary niece go with them, then they decided to look for the tiny girl they decided to look in pairs, with Luka accompanying him. Except for Jason, Jagged, and Dick.

Everyone but Tim and Alfred are staying.

⤝☀⤞

Damian would’ve taken his bike if they had let him go alone, but no, he had to bring someone else with him, instead, he took a car and he took the goth with Jon to where they are supposed to look for the girl, then they went to the shopping district, to the closest section that led to the airport. 

They looked in every local for her, outside too, but the boy heavily implied that it was more or less likely that she was inside somewhere since Gotham is pretty chilly and Marinette gets cold pretty easily as him, Luka had told him so.

Which made sense since he had a thick sweater on, Damian didn’t question him more about it because he found it weird. Luka Couffaine didn't get cold that easily. 

About forty minutes later, Luka received a call, apparently from the boy’s dad and had good news, the girl was in a Café/restaurant ‘Vanilla & Cocoa’, he went over there a few times, they had a pretty good vegetarian menu and Jon loved their pastries.

He spotted the girl as soon as they got inside. 

She was in a corner eating a cake, focused on her sketchbook until Luka called her name. When she met the boy’s eyes, she hurried and took everything that was on the table into her backpack, with an exception for the large-strange-looking box. 

On her way to them, she almost tripped, Luka couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit.

Damian just stared at her as a dumb teenager would look at their crush, he found the girl stunning. Obviously, he didn’t know he had that look on his face. 

Luka noticed it and reminded himself to tell everyone back at home, and Jon too, he was the guy’s best friend and Damian looked like and was the type of guy that wouldn’t tell him unless he was pushed enough to spill the details.

Jon deserved to know if his best friend had a crush so he could bother him just a little bit. 

He also saw the way Mari looked at him, she blushed briefly, maybe because the guy is quite handsome if you asked for Luka’s opinion. Then it shifted, she looked at him with a weary look. But the thing that captured Luka’s attention was the miraculous box and got Marinette’s attention back at Luka.

“ _ Did you bring the miraculous box with you? _ ” 

Damian noticed the surprise in his voice. He heard it in his song.

“ _ How did you _ —?” Marinette let out a tired sigh, then muttered “ _ Adrien is gonna be so dead…” _

“ _ I made him confess,”  _ Luka admitted hurriedly.

She sighed again, “ _ Fine, I’m in no position to judge your ways to discover my secrets, but I was telling everyone before the summer ended, and did you tell someone else? ” _

Damian had the look of not believing that this was the girl that apparently had carried to boys, no doubt it was hard to picture her doing that, she’s tiny as in barely 150 centimeters.

He interrupted them, the sky was getting darker and darker which meant danger, before being Robin he was Damian Wayne, in other words, kidnapping material. 

" _ I'm afraid we need to go, Gotham's dangerous at night." _

She was back at staring to him cautiously. Luka decided to step in, and presented to each other, then he proceeded to be surprised when he noticed he spoke french, Mari did the same, she relaxed way too easily, a part of him was really glad about that. 

He answered Luka’s question offended, then the eurasian beauty asked him if he spoke another language and felt how his cheeks warmed. 

“ _ We could talk about this in my car, let’s get going”  _ he dodged the question unintentionally because much to his own surprise, he actually wanted to talk to her.

He opened the door for her, but Damian kept it open because he wanted to have a good impression, and what’s better than treating the girl’s friends good? She thanked him, but then again he thought of the possibility of him being her boyfriend came back at his mind. 

“Don’t worry I have a girlfriend back at home, and Mari is available” he whispered before slipping into the car.

Damian got red real bad, but thank God it’s night so no one would notice that. Foolish boy, Luka notices everything, and he ships it.

⤝☀⤞

After getting into the car, they went to pick up Jon and Juleka, which fortunately didn’t take long.

“Don’t ever do this to us again,” Juleka hugged the girl tightly.

“I’ll try,” she hugged her back “hey, who are you?” 

Jon pointed to himself, “Me?” she nodded.

“Grumpy’s boy best friend” he answered, and “grumpy boy” glared at him, “My name is Jonathan, but please call me Jon, nice to meet you.”

She started to tremble, it looked like Luka wasn’t lying to him at all. Both  _ do  _ get cold easily.

“Likewise, I guess you already know my name, Jon.” 

The blue-eyed girl had started to rub her arms while they headed to his car, Damian decided to put his jacket on her shoulders. It was bothering him. 

“Oh, no it’s not neces-” she started to apologize, with her cheeks red.

“I’m not accepting the jacket back” Damian hushed her, and went to the car, he was embarrassed enough, he’s not up for anything Jon has to say about his odd behavior, he knows better than anyone how weird it was for him to approach a girl on purpose. 

“Not a single word Kent, let’s get going, crime doesn’t sleep.” he said before Jon could say something else.

Jon was trying to say something if his gaping meant so.

He looked back at Luka, he had a proud smile plastered all over his face. The eldest teen seemed happy for his friend; Juleka had more or less the same look as Jon, but she and Marinette were looking at each other, the girl was pretty surprised and her face was completely red.

“Let’s get going, we don’t want Damian to get mad at us,” Luka said

“Believe me. You don’t want that,” the blue-eyed boy warned them.

“Oh, I know,” Luka said in a sing-tone, Jon’s eyes widened, “we have lots of time, I can tell you later.”

They followed Damian and immediately went inside the car. Jon took a seat beside Damian, who had pretty red ears; in the back, Marinette was in the middle of the Couffaine siblings. 

“Let’s go back to the manor, Dami.”

“Don’t call me that, Kent.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yesterday I was thinking about Sakura Card Captor and how Syaoran's a softie in Clear Card, while I was writing and thought how much Marinette and Damian are so much alike to Sakura and Syaoran. Adrien is definitively Tomoyo.
> 
> Anyways, let me know if I made some kind of mistake I do a lot of them or inconsistencies I also do a lot of those. The next chapter continues on Marinette finally arriving at the manor.
> 
> Edit 18/11/20: I'm not sure but I think I put the wrong date on the first chapter.
> 
> All the stuff that made me cringe or notoriously didn't make sense it's gone.


	3. Someone got us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isn't it so bothersome when your siblings tease you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Published 11/08/20:
> 
> Sorry I took a lot of time, stuff happened and inspiration hit me toward other things. The good news is: we finally got a solid plot! The bad news is: Expect inconsistencies! In the first and second chapters that will be clear starting this chapter but you'll notice more in the next ones.
> 
> Edit 18/11/20: This happened because I got the plot revealed in this chapter :P

On their way back to the manor Luka lent his phone to Marinette so she could talk to her parents and let them know she’s fine. 

“ _ Maman?”  _ Marinette asked in a small voice. __

Jon heard the concerned voice of Marinette’s concerned mom. She clearly wasn’t speaking french it sounded like chinese to him, although he isn’t so sure, a man began to talk, her dad the youngest boy assumed.

Both of her parents were loud, so much so that she actually put away the phone for a few seconds. 

“ _ There’s no need, I’m fine, just a little bit cold.”  _ she huffed and frowned “ _ Maman! I know I’m a klutz and forget things but I didn’t forget to take them or the list just in case I lost them. I love you too, guys take care.”  _ she hung up and returned the phone to the guy on her left.

_ “What did they say?”  _ Juleka asked.

_ “They won’t kill your papa if that makes you feel better,”  _ Marinette grinned sheepishly “ _ Also, maman asked if the suitcase arrived in good condition.” _

__ Well, that was phrased weird enough to pass as suspicious, the girl was a designer so maybe it had some fabric or a sewing machine.

_ “We didn’t check, but we think so,”  _ Luka answered.

Marinette didn’t look happy with the boy’s answer, her face shifted with a conflicted look. 

“So, what did your parents say?” Jon asked, trying to break the ice. 

“Then, you don't speak french?” he nodded, languages aren’t Jon’s thing “Well, they were upset, and they asked about a suitcase but that’s a secret for tomorrow morning well if nothing bad happened to its content and other things.”

Damian noticed her heavy accent, he doesn’t recall hearing it so thick before, it must be because she’s tired or that he was far more interested in admiring her. He decided it was the first.

The rest of their conversations on their way back to the manor were mostly between Jon, Luka, Marinette, Juleka, and occasionally Damian. He mainly talked to threaten and complain about whatever Jon said about him or because he was truly interested, which only occurred once. 

He did that just to tease him, good thing he won’t be there the entire summer. 

Surprisingly they were the first ones to arrive at the manor. They were received by a relieved Tim, who was struggling to not fanboy over seeing MDC here.

“ So, Alfred said I should take you here while he’s making tea and he’s sorry for not greeting you properly,” he said to them.

Marinette mumbled something that sounded like a “don’t worry”.

“I think the exhaustion from today is catching up with her,” 

“Mood.” both siblings said at the same time.

They were more awake than her, but that didn’t mean they weren’t tired or wishing to go to sleep already.

Juleka and Marinette sat next to each other in the loveseat, Luka joined them a few seconds later.

Alfred handed a cup of tea to everyone, Tim included. Marinette was clinging to Juleka’s arm until the butler offered the tea she accepted gladly. 

The black jacket on the tiny miss’ shoulders didn’t pass unnoticed by Alfred and Tim. Alfred found it quite endearing, meanwhile Tim was in shock.

“We should tell them to go to sleep, they haven’t had proper rest,” Alfred told Damian. “Especially miss Dupain-Cheng,” 

Jon nodded fervently, “It would be perfect if we did it now,” he said to Damian and Alfred. “Once everyone arrives they won’t let them sleep.”

Jon was right, if the Couffaine siblings had acted in that way when they saw her, then how Marinette’s uncle would be?

He nodded in response.

**⤝☀⤞**

“And the demon?” Jason asked when he didn’t see his little brother.

“Jon and Damian lead Bruce’s guests to their rooms,” Tim supplied him with an answer. “ Surprisingly Damian went with them, willingly.”

He emphasized the last part.

"You are kidding us, right?" Steph couldn't believe it,  _ their _ demon spawn willingly wanting to spend time with someone around his age!

“Why would I lie about that?”

Everyone arrived not so long after the teens went upstairs to lead the guests to the rooms in which they’re going to sleep. 

Sadly, they had yet to go inside their rooms; Jon had suggested Damian give them a short tour around the manor that way they would have fewer chances of getting lost, after not so much of begging, -more like pestering him, in Damian’s opinion- he accepted and gave them a short tour around the mansion, when he finished, Damian and Jon took them to their respective room so they could finally rest.

“What are you talking about?” Damian appeared out of nowhere alongside Jon.

“Speaking of the devil...” Jason muttered. “And don’t you dare to tell him, Jon!”

“I wasn’t, but you just tempted me,” he admitted, giving Jason a funny look.

Damian just rolled his eyes at their antics.

“Where’s my father?” the moody teen asked when he noticed his father wasn’t in there

“He and Cass went to look for you, and also took Jagged and Penny to their room," Dick told his little brother. "So, what are your opinions about Jagged's kids?"

He stared at then before replying. "The Couffaine siblings weren’t much of a bother, like I feared they would be, and Marinette is a pleasant company."

"Wait a minute, did you call her by her actual name?" to say that Jason was shocked was an understatement, another stressful factor to add to the list. Yay.

Oh, Damian made a grave mistake.

"I didn’t get to be called by my name until two years ago, and you still switch to my last name!" Dick whined. Damian, again, rolled his eyes.

“Tt, I wonder why that is,” the green-eyed boy said in a snarky tone.

“Oh, you do have a crush on her!”

Damian blushed fiercely not only out of embarrassment but also because his siblings made him furious.

"You do have a crush!" Dick shouted at the realization. 

“Nonsense, I do not have a crush on her!” He instantly regretted coming down, he should have gone right to his room instead of looking for his father. 

“Damian has a what on who?” Cass asked. Bruce was beside her, on the entry of the kitchen, both looking surprised. 

Dick’s proud smile grew wider when she asked that and more when he saw Bruce’s shocked expression. “Bruce, guess what? Damian has a crush on the designer!” Everyone laughed when Bruce’s expression shifted from shock to several different ones.

“I do not have a crush on Marinette!” 

He noticed a little bit later he had mentioned her name and got even more flustered than he already was. “See? He does have a crush on her, he said her  name!” Tim pointed out.

“I think you should stop,” Jon said timidly, he wanted to warn them, yet a part of him desired to know how this would evolve. 

The curiosity won, as a result, Dick got kicked in the back of his knee and in result making him kneel down then Jason and Tim passed through the same fate minus Duke who was wise enough to keep his mouth shut and far from them.

**⤝☀⤞**

  
  


After going to defeat an Akuma in Paris and coming back to Gotham; they went down to start their day, and look for Alfred if possible.

According to what Juleka told her, the man usually wakes up early in the morning to make breakfast. It was the ideal moment for delivering the baked goods her parents’ made as a ‘Thank you’ gift for the people who are hosting her. 

First, they changed their pajamas for the appropriate clothing to use for their daily work-out routine (which only consists of running, so it’s not an actual work-out routine), then they went downstairs to find him.

Marinette knew there was something weird in this house - and that’s putting it lightly-, there was literally a man who reeked of Lazarus’ Pit intoxicating energy and although she hasn’t met him, Lazarus’ Pit has a strong ‘scent’ for her to identificate it, and Damian kind of did too, but not as if he was drenched in it more like he was exposed to it and somehow the ‘smell’ got stuck into him. 

Then there was Alfred, he had this mysterious aura which made you understand that he knows more than what he appears to know. 

“Good morning, I see you are early risers.” He greeted them with a soft smile.

“Not really, but the jet lag helps, Alfred. Also good morning to you as well.” Luka said casually.

He was setting the table for breakfast. “I see you have a lot of boxes. Is there some way I can help you with?” 

“My parents’ insisted on bringing these as a thank you gift!" She moved slightly the box she had on her arms “Emphasis, on 'They insisted' "

"Thank you, miss Dupain-Cheng, I’m sure everyone will appreciate the gesture,” he said with a bright smile.

Alfred was leading them to the kitchen, so they could leave the boxes and do whatever they needed to do.

The kitchen was humongous, not even her parents’ furnace room in the bakery was this big and they had more than three ovens, Marinette thought, at the same time as she was studying the place. 

“Please, just call me Marinette, my last name is- I don’t like to be called by it,” Marinette grimaced as she put the boxes on the counter, she felt somewhat uncomfortable every time they called her by her full name.

Especially the last name. It made her feel incredibly uncomfortable, to be called by it, alongside by the title of “miss”.

“Then, please call me Alfred, although I’m concerned about something,” the man told them, frowning slightly.

“Sure thing, uh… do tell?”

“Is there something I can do about your two little friend’s diets?” he sighed, putting a hand over his cheek to make it more dramatic. 

The three of them couldn’t bat an eye when they heard him say that, thinking that they misheard him. After all, English is not their mother tongue.

They stared at Alfred for a few seconds after accepting that he said  _ that _ . 

“Oh, man! We didn’t imagine you said that, did we?” Juleka smacked her forehead.

“He got you, Tikki, I guess Sass can go out too, Luka.” Marinette resolved without giving it a second thought. “I suppose you will keep our secret?”

Tikki and Sass went out, Tikki was frowning lightly in confusion. Since it was weird of Marinette to do such a thing. 

“I know how to keep a secret. Don’t worry,” he replied, “May I ask why the miraculous are active again?”

Marinette nodded.  “Problems with the lost ones.” She briefly answered. “But why do you know about them?”

“Well, Wang, Marianne, and I were friends during our youth,” He commented, Marinette directly stared at him, shocked. 

Then this was one of the friends Master Fu and Marianne had, the good one, not the traitor.

“And that man is…?” Juleka tilted her head.

“The previous great guardian, Jules,” Marinette rubbed nervously on her forearm. “He and Marianne are happily living in England. Things occurred, he had to quit.” now rubbing fiercely the back of her neck.

He smiled at them.

“I see, perhaps you could give me any indications of where he is so I could give him a visit,” Alfred didn’t try to ask for more information from them. Marinette was glad he didn’t. “or a call,”

“I’m sure my master would be glad to see an old friend.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm playing with canon a lot, like a lot. I'm including an idea from an AU I'm working for another Miraculous Ladybug fanfic (It will be Adrinette) but in this one, it will work differently. Oh! And I might confuse you a lot, I tend to do that a lot, even in my mother-tongue.
> 
> Edit 18/11/20:
> 
> As I've been saying this is an AU of an AU, "The Cheng's are magic AU" there will be tons of references to CCS in this fic, I'll just let you know that. I had things to say, sadly I forgot U.U


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of serious chats and a reunion?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have a beta now! With whom I'm so grateful. My lifesaver Anrim!
> 
> Edit 18/11/20:
> 
> This has less things to edit since the plot was already established already, but I had to add or quit some stuff.
> 
> Kudos to Anrim for dealing with me and my mind.

“You’re saying that there’s something  _ off  _ with them?” Luka pointed the manor confused.

Marriette nodded hesitantly.

“Precisely, can’t you feel it?” She sent them a curious look.

Both siblings shook their heads. Marriette frowned.

“That’s weird since you two are better at feeling presences and auras." She started to hum "And I was sure that now you’re a permanent holder your singular ability was going to amplify.” 

The three of them had just finished running and were listening to Adrien’s weird playlist. 

The blond had such a good taste in music, approved by even Luka and Nino. Still, he had no order in his playlists like you could hear Catch Me, Catch You by Megumi Hinata, or his favorite song of Jagged.

Mostly J-pop or K-pop because the boy is a fan of the genre.

“What do you feel?” Juleka asked, confused.

“It’s something I shouldn’t be sensing or feeling if they were normal people,” 

Marinette was promised they were normal people, but here she was. Both siblings gave her a confused glance. 

“I’m talking about the normal for rich people; we’re friends with enough rich people to know they aren’t completely sane.” Marinette sighed before telling them the next “and most of us weren’t normal, to begin with so, our definition of normal or average is not uh, normal?”

The blue-eyed girl glanced at them before continuing, "Master Fu, taught me about a lot of things, and a few years ago in Shanghai, I had to face a lot of things; people with this scent mean no good, they’re dangerous.” 

“So, you can feel things too?” 

She thought a bit before giving Luka a straight answer. 

She can’t give him a normal explanation, because her dear great-grandmother would kill her if she did or even worse, Marinette would get her out of her home and lock her in Shanghai! With no chance of seeing her parents or friends, unless an Akuma attack happened. 

“Marinette!” Juleka snapped her from her thoughts, “So...?”

“Yeah… when I started to use miraculous, I wasn’t good at feeling presences and auras though I’m much better now. But you…” She pointed at them with a bright smile, “You’re natural! I have to meditate at least an hour to keep in shape, otherwise...” She tilted her head and grimaced.

“Your master taught you that?” Luka’s eyes widened.

“He did, and a lot of other stuff.” Marinette swallowed, she was going to regret this, but they were her friends after all.

"I can help you if you want to.” She murmured hesitantly.

Her granny was going to be  _ so  _ pissed, but Brid would be proud of her, Xiao-Mei too. 

Both siblings looked at each other.

"Only if it won't cause you any problems," Luka said seriously.

“I would enjoy the problems, anyway,” Marinette shrugged, it won’t be much of a problem, she stood up and looked for dust on her leggings.

"We should go change, again," Juleka said.

“Yeah" Luka nodded, and stood, offering Juleka a hand “before everyone gets down.”

The purple streaked girl chuckled and nodded.

“Ah, yes, the chaos.”

⤝☀⤞

Damian got up not so long ago, but immediately after getting ready and feeding Alfred-The-Cat and Titus, he went to see Bat-cow and Jerry. 

Jon also went with him, Damian was used to Jon popping out of nowhere, he tried to scare him most of the time, yet, he never succeeded in his ‘task’, it didn’t help that Jon was anything but discreet. 

“Can we go to eat breakfast?” Jon asked after spending an hour with Bat-cow and Jerry, he was starving.

Damian frowned and stopped petting Bat-cow, emerald green eyes bored into Jon.

“Who's stopping you?” He replied coldly.

“Well, you  _ are _ avoiding breakfast, and that's very unhealthy, what kind of best friend would I be if I let you skip the most important meal of the day?” He babbled out, but Damian continued glaring at him.

"Besides," He said softly, as he shifted his stance, avoiding Damian's stare.

"They'll tease you either way" 

That got the raven haired boy to look away, he resumed petting his cow.

“I know but I'd rather not be embarrassed with her so close.” Jon noticed as Damian's heartbeat picked up, he smiled, they'd been friends for a long time. 

In summary, Jon knows, not because he explicitly told him so, but because Damian didn’t deny when he asked him if he really had a crush on Marinette, either way, the speed of his heartbeat confirmed it for him.

“I think they will embarrass you no matter where you are.” Jon told Damian, “because she likes you too, and because Luka and Juleka know, they seem the type to bother their friends.”

“I can eat breakfast later. You can go. Jerry needs to be groomed.” Damian had that final tone of voice full of resolve, thankfully Jon knew him long enough to know how to break it.

Boy scout took out his cellphone and began to scroll. Then he'd sigh every five seconds to make it more dramatic, and also to annoy Damian more so he could convince him to do what he wants. So far it worked every single time, he trusted, more like pushed, his luck for it to work again. 

Damian huffed, annoyed. 

"Fine, let's go.”

“Yay!” Jon squealed.

When Damian and Jon got inside the dining room, they saw a flushed Marinette denying whatever the others were saying about her. The Couffaine siblings were cackling at Marinette’s expenses, and his siblings were doing the same too. She curled up into the chair, wanting to be swallowed by the earth, 

“But, Marinette, it didn’t happen only once!”

“Penny, make them stop,” She begged as she put her forehead against the table.

Marinette couldn’t see them or their faces anymore, but she felt like dying of embarrassment 

“They are embarrassing me!”

“Luka, Juleka; Marinette is right, calm down!” 

Damian and Jon made their way towards the table, sitting next to Steph who was next to Tim. 

“I don’t know Penny, this is informative,” Jagged said to his wife, pretty amused by the situation. “I didn’t know you were that good with your hands, Mari.”

Marinette put her hoodie on and mumbled. “I was young and stupid.” Although no one heard her, well, Jon did, he also heard the whole thing and was struggling to not laugh too.

“Of course you do,” Penny sighed as she replied to her husband.

“But if you keep talking, I’m going to tell them about ‘Guitarvillain,’ dear," 

Couffaine siblings snickered.

"You too, kids.” She threatened them with a smile. The three of them gasped.

“You wouldn’t dare!” All three of them exclaimed in unison, extremely offended. But Penny just smiled mischievously and continued eating.

Damian and the rest of his family, Jon included, stared at them in confusion, what did ‘Guitarvillain’ even mean?

And most importantly why did it have the word ‘villain’ in it?

“I would,” She said after a short pause, then turned her head towards Bruce, who was intrigued by the entire ordeal.

“Bruce, have you ever heard about the time Jagged got akumatized?” She inquired innocently.

“Sorry, Akuma-what?” Stephanie asked in Bruce’s place.

Their French guests glanced at each other.

“Oh, I think the news hasn't reached here!” Marinette said, and scratched the back of her neck. “After all, it only reached England once, Startrain happened, guys. It makes sense if you ask me,”

“Don’t remind me, we were there,” Juleka muttered as she played with her food, and an annoyed expression on her face.

“Then what’s that?” Selina inquired, bringing them back to the topic. She was leaning on the dining table, her cat-like green eyes glittering with interest.

“The short answer is: there’s a magical villain in Paris that prays on negative emotions, and all of us except Marinette have been akumatized,” Luka explained emotionlessly.

“Are you kidding us?" Jason exclaimed loudly.

Marinette flinched in surprise, and something cold passed through Damian as she did. 

“It sounds absurd, but that’s miraculous magic for you,” Juleka shrugged, still staring at her food. 

“That’s right, believe us it gets weirder,” Marinette explained and then frowned as if she remembered something.

“Yeah, it does. But you can ask, I guess.” Penny replied nervously.

Bruce was the one to ask something first. “What does it mean to be ‘akumatized’?”

“That’s when Papillon uses an Akuma on you and takes advantage of your negative emotions to make you do his dirty work. It’s easier for that creepy-old-man to manipulate you when you are upset, sad, angry, or disappointed.” Batfamily noticed the way Luka clenched his fists while saying that.

“But how come the news hasn’t made it here?” Tim asked.

“Because of Ladybug, she reverses everything once she captures the Akuma.” Jagged explained, “She is the definition of rock ‘n roll.”

“But Ladybug can’t defeat the Akuma without her team’s help,” Marinette said nonchalantly.

“If it wasn’t for them, the Justice League would know about our city’s situation.” everyone stared at her, and Jagged almost choked on his water. 

It seemed insulting this ‘Ladybug’ was quite the big deal to them. 

Bruce had heard about the incidents in Paris, but he didn't let it show, he kept his mask of confusion on. These people knew more than they let on.

“Take that back!” Jagged shouted.

“Well, without Ladybug they would know anyways, and we would be all dead.” Luka contradicted her.

“Fair enough” Marinette relented.

“Who’s Ladybug?” Mar’i asked curiously. Her green eyes shone even brighter at the idea of a Ladybug-themed superhero, she had a liking for those pretty bugs.

“Our main heroine, along with Chat Noir they appeared right after Papillon did,” Penny explained, and Mar’i was a seconds away from jumping into Penny’s arms, but she didn’t, her mom patted her back before she did so.

“We have our own set of colorful magic superheroes, quite the opposite to Gotham’s” Penny continued.

“They’re vigilantes Penny dear,” Jagged corrected her. 

“The MT are pretty young though, I don’t believe whatever Ladybug told us at the beginning. Ladybug might have reincarnated, but she’s a teen, I know it!” he commented and sighed, it was no secret that everyone thought that. Jagged noticed the expectant glances he received after that statement, so he decided to continue “When Papillon started and Ladybug and Chat Noir appeared right away, they look about Juleka’s and Nettie’s age respectively,”

“Sorry, but you’re saying that Paris’ heroes are teenagers?” Jon was a superhero too, and he started when he was ten-years-old, however, he had a feeling that these heroes had different circumstances. “as in only teens?”

He would love to meet them, he wondered if they'd like to join Teen Titans.

“Pretty much, but can we leave it like that? It’s our Lila-free-summer, and if we keep talking about this…” Juleka bit her lip and shrugged, nervously.

“I agree, nonetheless, we don’t mind talking about Paris’ situation at all.” Luka sipped his juice “Besides the fact that we almost died a handful of times, everything is hilarious, Mari I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Lady-beetle.”

“You know she hates being called that.” Mariette scolded.

“Oh! And now you defend her!” Juleka teased her, trying to lighten up the mood.

“I never said I disliked or hated her, what I did say was that the other heroes don’t get enough recognition and Ladybug gets so much of it, I’m sure she could even share with every one of her team-mates and still have plenty of it!” she huffed, offended by Juleka’s comment. 

Juleka let out a fake gasp, and Marinette stuck her tongue out. 

“Anyways, inspiration waits for no one, I’m going out to design.”

She didn’t wait for a reply and went out.

“Why did she take her tablet and not her sketchbook?” Jagged asked, confused.

“Marinette said that inspiration hit her at midnight,” Juleka answered her dad’s question.

“Oof, that explains those eye bags.”

  
  


⤝☀⤞

Marinette sat behind the bushes for a long while, she was dealing with a lot. 

Tikki was on top of her head helping her deal with her existential crisis. Almost an hour had passed since she left the dining room and now she felt much calmer.

A stray black and white cat helped with that. Its soft purrs calmed her and helped her get her thoughts on track.

She heard the soft crunching of leafs as light footsteps made their way towards her, she had a hunch about who it could be.

Cassandra appeared in her fieldld of vision , soft brown eyes staring down at her.

Cass was surprised when she saw Alfred the cat, on Marinette’s lap, that cat liked nobody except Damian.

**“** I almost went to hug you when I saw you, Cassie,” Marinette commented, still petting a stray cat she found behind the garden. “then, I saw the expression you made, it literally screamed “Don’t you dare!” And I had to obey.” She pouted.

“I’m glad you did.” Cass sat beside her old friend. Tikki floated all the way to Cass’s cheek and hugged her.

Marinette did the same, startling Alfred the cat in the process 

“I’m so glad for you! But they aren’t normal are they?”

Cass knew she meant her family so she opted for a mysterious smile.

“They’re not like you,” She simply answered, returning the hug, Marinette stuck her tongue out and Tikki giggled. 

The story of how Cass and Marinette was pretty normal, at least by their respective standards. 

At the age of seven, during her third summer in Shanghai, after another unsuccessful murder attempt on her head, her -great-grandmother decided it was time for her to get more protection, apparently, the bodyguard they had chosen for her didn’t have enough experience but could you really blame her bodyguard?

Said ‘bodyguard’ was almost-eight-year-old Kim, yeah, her silly childhood friend was/is her bodyguard. He had the job as a joke of her family but he  _ is  _ Marinette’s bodyguard.

Her great-grandmother being who she is, found a solution for their predicament.

She paid a huge amount of money to David Cain. The deal was that he'd give one of his own trainees as a bodyguard. Cass was chosen, and even though the girl could neither talk or read, Marinette somehow managed to befriend her, with some help from her teenage cousin and Kim.

“Rude.” Marinette pouted and Cass softly smiled at her.

“Cassie, let’s take a selfie! Kimmy and Brid  _ have  _ to know about this!” she proposed to her, beaming.

“As you wish, Miss Lanying,” she teased her.

Cass didn't do a lot as a bodyguard; the sole fact of her being there was enough to scare off the other rival families. That summer ended up being the most peaceful one despite the death threats and murder attempts at the beginning of the summer.

“Don’t call me that, Cassie! It’s Marinette, Mari or Nettie for you!” Marinette demanded playfully.

"I was so surprised when granny let me go without Kim...” she realized something “Wait for a second! The reason why I arrived without him was you! It makes so much sense!”

Cass nodded and smiled.

“It does.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't supposed to happen, I had it planned for another chapter but my mind decided to change plans, so here we are! The last scene was supposed to be the first, and the half of the chapter I mentioned in the notes is going to be chapter five now (unless my mind decides says no).
> 
> Edit 18/11/20: Mind said no i_i And as you can already tell I'm sticking with the french version of our MLB's superheroes/villains/akumas names because I decided I like it better.
> 
> The name changed from Yang to Lanying. Yang- sea or deep sea (if I remember right). Lanying: indigo lustrousness or glittering blue. 
> 
> Cass and Marinette are half-Chinese babies.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Damian talk <3 oh! and Marinette has secrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took us a long time but here we are! As always thanks to Anrim for the help.
> 
> Thanks for the kudos and comments!

Marinette felt her chest ease up after the brief catch up with her dear Cass.

Well, it mostly consisted of Marinette talking about the mess her life is, and about Kim’s and Bridgette’s life. She told her about the crazy story behind how Félix and Bridgette got married and about Xiao*-Mei, her favorite niece as the rest of them feared her, not that she blamed them. 

But Cass did share her fair amount, the noirette told her about how she ended up living with Bruce Wayne, blatantly omitting details, not that Marinette complained about it; she understood Cass’ wish to not telling her some things

And yeah, Cass also confirmed her theory.

Jason, if she didn’t get his name wrong, was once submerged into the Lazarus’ Pit, consequently, Marinette assumed that Damian was the same. Her former bodyguard didn’t deny or confirm once Marinette asked that, she just said that he shared similarities between both of them.

Marinette was so happy for her, she learned how to talk and speak, finally had a loving father, and acquired numerous siblings.

The pretty cat decided to make a new appearance, popping from the bushes, distracting Marinette when she should be cleaning her sketches. Working.

“ _ No, pretty kitten, I can’t right now!”  _ she groaned, but took the cat and placed it on her lap, leaving her tablet to her side and in the process making Tikki startle a bit. “ _ Sorry”  _ she murmured.

The kwami who still was half-asleep went to her wielder’s purse to keep resting.

The pretty cat was a good stress reliever, and oh God the stress was eating her alive.

She had to do a lot of things this month, as an example, Marinette had to finish the designs for the charity event, the charity concert Jagged was doing, and Marinette also had to finish the dress for next Thursday’s dinner.

The dinner that nobody bothered to tell her about, until Saturday, lucky Marinette she was already making one for her, precisely for this kind turn of events. Life was never easy on her.

  
  


At least, she was stressed in Gotham and not in Shanghai where the time for herself was non-existent.

She’s not very excited about going to Shanghai once July ends.

“ _ I really need more golden thread, for the damn dress and buttons for one of Uncle Jagged outfits for the concert,”  _ she commented to the cat.

Marinette peeked through the bushes when she felt Damian’s ‘scent’ approaching her, and she almost fell while trying to stand up.

“Hi,” she smiled sheepishly to him, Damian just nodded and continued to stand awkwardly in front of her.

Marinette figured out he felt just as awkward as her if Damian’s stiff posture was any kind of indicator. They kept staring at each other, for a few seconds that appeared to be hours, without saying a word. The pretty cat decided he was unhappy with the sudden lack of petting and went straight for Marinette’s leg, biting her.

“Eeeep!” 

Damian’s face twitched, in pain the moment she shrieked.

“Are you fine?” he managed to ask.

“It depends, do you know the cat that bit me?” she replied grimacing, then looked down at her bleeding ankle 

How could this sting worse than what that beast did to her?

“You do?” Marinette asked impatiently, pointing to her left, Damian got close to her, leaning a bit on the bushes, only to find Aldred The Cat grooming his paws as if he had never done anything wrong in his life.

“Yes, this is Alfred the cat” he explained, frowning upset at his cat 

“Can I help you?” Damian asked her with his cheeks slightly red.

“Just hold my tablet,” she told Damian and handed him the tablet .

Damian took it without complaining. Much to his surprise.

  
  


“Do you prefer digital media?” he asked out of the blue.

“Not really, I use both. Digital media has its perks, but I like traditional better.” Marinette replied and took a pink band-aid out of her purse. “Wait, you draw?!”

“That’s why I asked,” he said matter-of-factly.

  
  
  
  


**⤝☀⤞**

  
  


The two eldest couples in the manor went out after breakfast ended, they went to check how the remodeling was going on Jagged’s family house, the reason why they were staying at the moment with the Waynes instead of his own was that the place got a handful of plagues over the course of the year, and it also was the same reason as to why they decided to not bring Fang with them.

Jagged spilled a few tears when they came up with the decision of not bringing Fang with them, it was the first trip he did without his beloved pet.

The thing that was taking longer was the arrival of the new furniture, most of it had to be replaced for obvious reasons and not everything they chose for the house was available in Gotham.

“Hey, Jagged, can I ask you something?” Bruce tightened his grip over the steering wheel

Jagged observed how Bruce debated himself internally, probably it had to do with what they were talking about earlier, he just wondered what he would ask.

“Sure, what’s on your mind?”

“Who’s this ‘Lila’ your kids keep mentioning?”

Jagged and Penny looked at each other before answering. “I would love to talk to you about it, however, that’s for the kids to tell.” 

  
  


Bruce nodded, and then added: “If they need help, you know I’ll gladly help.”

“Thanks, man, but let me tell you something.” Jagged leaned onto the driver’s seat, “You’ve already helped us a lot.”

“I did?”

Selina giggled softly at her husband’s confused reaction “But they’re handling things fine, right? I’ll hate to see one of your kids or that cute girl hurt.”

Both Penny and Jagged winced. Penny took the word first, to say something that could make their fears go away. “I can say that this ‘Lila’ was the reason behind why we decided to take Marinette with us,” she spat bitterly

“But, God! It was hard to get permission from her great-grandmother!” Penny exclaimed.

“I didn’t know grandmothers could be so mean!”

“Great-grandmother, Jagged,” Penny corrected, booping his nose, she finally got her payback from before if the smugness on her face indicated anything.

“What does her great-grandmother have to do with letting her come?” Selina raised an eyebrow. 

Selina had to keep up with the appearances and feigned ignorance about the fact that they knew of Marinette’s shared custody. Because everyone in the family had read the file Tim had prepared to them when Jagged told them that Marinette was tagging along, two months ago*, everyone knew that.

“I was as surprised as you when Mari’s parents told us we had to ask her after we got their permission, which wasn’t easy.” Jagged chuckled “Apparently they share her custody.”

“My, that’s pretty curious.”

“Some families just work differently, I guess.” Penny shrugged “Still, her parents are great.”

“Oh thank goodness, that way Bruce won’t try to adopt her”

“Excuse me?”

“Love, we all saw  _ that _ expression on your face,” she giggled patting Bruce’s shoulder, Jagged agreed wholeheartedly with Selina much to Bruce’s dismay “I’m sure your kids even felt that,” Selina added, joking.

  
  


**⤝☀⤞**

  
  


Yesterday he felt as if someone had lifted a weight from his chest, a burden he didn’t know he had, it was too unnatural for Damian to feel like that, calmed, relaxed, and light, he didn’t dislike the feeling though.

It helped him while patrolling last night, it was a freeing sentiment.

And now he was, walking with the pretty girl he met yesterday night, and no, no he wouldn’t deny that the girl was problematic and maybe infuriating because how come she ended up in Gotham’s shopping district without noticing when she got separated and lost in the airport?

He knows how feelings work, contrary to his family’s opinion.

Yesterday, when the jet-black haired girl captured his attention the moment she locked her beautiful blue eyes on him, full of cautiousness and weariness.

He won’t lie, he liked the look she gave to him.

It was… it was attractive to him, Damian won’t lie to himself,less drama that way. He has enough drama going on with his family, already.

No thanks, he’s fine without the teenage drama.

Not that he would get away from it, he’s condemned to it, that kind of comes with being a teen, no one can escape from it.

He glanced at Marinette, she still had a bright smile on her pretty face, the contagious kind of. And although he wasn’t smiling, Damian didn’t have that typical “lugubrious” expression of his. 

“Say… Damian, do you know a place that sells good sketchbooks?” she asked, stopping by the manor’s back door.

His heart fluttered, much to his dislike “I know some,”

The raven-haired boy noted how she hummed and bit her soft pink lips, thinking.

“W- would you mind taking me to one of those stores?” her cheeks were tinted in soft pink, cute, his mind shouted “I mean… if you want! Aaand it doesn’t have to be only us! Juleka, Luka, or your friend can come with us! Only if you want, of course! If you don’t want to, it’s fine!”

Damian let Marinette babbling for a few seconds to process what she asked, she asked him out, didn’t she? He was surprised, this girl was the straight-forward, type huh?

“You’re babbling.” he pointed out.

“Oh, sorry!” she exclaimed, “But if you don’t want then ignore what I said!”

“My siblings want to go out tomorrow, they are going to ditch us at some point,” he shrugged, “or we can do it first.”

“I like the idea.We should ditch them separately, though. They deserve it.” 

Damian opened the door for her. “Sounds like a plan. “she passed “We should get going unless you want to be bothered by them.”

“No, thanks I had my fair share for the entire month!” she pouted.

He almost chuckled, Damian remembered how flustered she was on breakfast to the point of slamming her head on the table. A funny sight.

“I remember,” she gasped horrified.

“Noooo! ”

"Yes."

  
  
  
  


**⤝☀⤞**

  
  
  


Marinette was enjoying herself, Damian had a pleasant personality, yeah, maybe a bit uptight for her liking.

His comments were more funny than offensive, besides it was obvious that he didn’t mean to offend her. If he wanted to offend her, Damian would do without batting an eye, Marinette thought it was practically written all over his face. 

“So, where are we heading to?” she asked. 

Their previous conversation died after a while, and although the silence wasn’t uncomfortable at all, she was a bit antsy because of… well she isn’t sure why, but starting a conversation always helps.

“They told me they were going to the game room.”

“Gaming room?”

“Father thought it could be a great addition to the manor,” he shrugged. “I think he added it to keep my brothers busy, that way father avoids the chaos in the manor.” 

“So... your brothers still live here?” 

“Only Drake and Cass, do, although he tried to convince Richard to move back when he told us that Kor’i and him were having a baby. I never thought I would see my father like that.” he frowned at the memory, it was just ridiculous.

“Mar’i’s dad, right?”

Damian nodded. 

“Say, do you have UM3?” Marinette changed themes nervously.

She wasn’t sure what to answer after Damian’s response being a nod, so her mouth said what she was planning to ask when he told her about the game room after she changed the theme to his family, not on purpose, but it happens.

“I think we do.” 

Marinette’s lips curved in a pretty smile. They went upstairs, the manor was a maze, understandable considering that the biggest house she’s been in is separated into different buildings, not into only one that goes up and is wide, really wide.

Half of the time they were talking her mind was drifting off toward the bet her side of the MT made with Chloé’s earlier, after defeating Mr. Pigeon for like the thirty-something time, which caused her to ask what Damian said, apologize to him, and in consequence made him clique his tongue, pissed, but despite the annoyance, Damian repeated what he had said.

And that happened at least five times.

Marinette honestly was surprised, she was sure he would keep quiet after the second one or that he would actively voice his displeasure, instead of repeating whatever Damian had said to her, but not without saying his iconic “TT” first.

Boy, he had patience,not even Chloé could be that patient with her that much  _ and  _ she’s battling against Kagami for Marinette’s best friend position. 

Jason’s scent got stronger as they approached the room, She trusts Cass with all her heart, but the Lazarus’ Pit scent puts her on the edge.

Somehow Jason’s was different from the boy to her side.

Jason’s was stronger, and Marinette liked to say it was toxic, which translated to dangerous in simple words; and he noticed she wasn’t the normal girl Marinette wanted them to believe she was. Well, she presumed that was why he kept glaring at her during breakfast, but she was too focused on Cass, to return the glare.

Because no one glares at a Cheng like that without receiving the proper consequences.

Although, Marinette wants to befriend them because her granny would be  _ so  _ pissed 

The joy.

“Marinette!” Juleka shook her lightly, Marinette didn’t notice they arrived in the gaming room.

“Where is your mind in?”

_ “Into plotting how to defeat Chloé _ .” Marinette noticed that they arrived at the ‘game room’, and everyone was staring at her.

Her face must be the same shade of red of her Ladybug suit because she felt her cheeks burn.

“ _ That reminds me, we need to brainstorm later with Max, Kagami, and Adrien for that, _ ” Luka informed her.

“ _ I have a few ideas, let’s share them later. _ ” she grinned “ _ I don’t know why Chloé insisted so much once Max joined our side.” _

Marinette and Luka laughed viciously, Juleka just sighed, the rest of the batkids stared at the trio, confused. They didn’t know that the calm and chill eldest Couffaine could be like  _ that. _

“I don’t know why I agreed to this, ” she groaned “ the next three weeks are going to be like this” she commented to Damian and Jon who were at her side, pretty loud intending to make everyone hear that.

“Sorry, we got excited," Luka explained.

Jason was the one to break the silence, with his loud laugh, Steph followed him, and so did Jon, Duke, Tim, and Mar’ i. Except for Damian and Cass, Marinette noted. 

  
  
  


“You are all so funny.” Mar’ i giggled as she approached them “Luka said you have videos of the superheroes, and...” she said to Marinette “And, is that a Chat Noir themed hoodie?”

Marinette smiled, to the little girl who reminded her of her favorite niece, maybe it was because both of them had that same shade of black hair, thick and large, she also looked almost the same age as her niece.

Xiao-Mei could use a friend that was Cheng chaoticness proof.

“Did they tell you about Chat Noir?” Mar’ i nodded repeatedly to Marinette’s question “I don’t have them, though, some of my friends do. Just let me ask them.” the blue-eyed girl said at the same time she pulled out her phone.

First, to Max, he probably was on his computer working on their database, thanks to this he is the most likely to answer her message first; then Adrien, he probably was on a photoshoot or busy, he would reply later.

But Adrien has things Max doesn’t, like the dumb videos he takes while patrolling. She still wonders how he has them.

“Yes! Please, I want to see Ladybug! ” she said, “Juleka said she’s the cutest!”

“Well, don’t let Queen Bee hear you saying that she’ll make sure to turn you into one of her fans” 

Mar’ i gasped. “There’s a bee themed heroine? Cool!” 

“I know, right?” Marinette mimicked Mar’ i’s enthusiasm “Luka’s favorite is Ryuuko and Juleka’s is Viperion, my favorite is Chat Noir. What about you?”

Mar’ i lit up the moment Marinette asked her that.

“My favorites are Nightwing and Starfire… and Batman, and Robin, and Red Hood... and Red Robin, and Batgirl, and Batwoman, and Black bat, and The Signal too!”

Marinette nodded several times like if she was saying ‘I see, fine choices you made’. 

That was when Tim decided to butt into their conversation. “Hey, Marinette I’m pretty sure that demon here,” he pointed at Damian who only rolled his eyes “didn’t tell you that we’re planning an outing tomorrow, do you want to come?”

‘I asked him out first.’ of course she couldn’t say that Marinette wanted to live. But facts were facts, and she asked him out first, besides doubts Damian was even going to tell her at some point. 

“I would like to go,” Marinette paused “I don’t remember much from yesterday even though I kinda toured through the city.”

Tim tilted his head lightly.

“Oh, right! How did you end up in that café? Weren’t you at the airport?” Jon asked, taking the opportunity.

Marinette laughed nervously, “I don’t know, one moment I was waiting for our luggage with Luka and Juleka, then the next I knew was that I was being swamped away by that horde of crazy fans, and when I blinked my eyes I was in a park! I wandered a bit before getting into the café.” she exclaimed amused. “The worst part was that my phone died! Good thing she advised me to write down all of my contacts in a notebook.”

Marinette couldn’t risk talking about Tikki, at least not here or with them. Alfred knew about the kwamis, Cass knew too because they knew each other from before, and for all she knew Jason or Damian might know!

There’s a reason behind Jason's and Damian’s Lazarus’ Pit “scent” in both of them. 

Marinette is not taking risks.

“And we’re glad you did,” Juleka added, Marinette smiled softly at her. 

“Me too,” she giggled, then turned her face to Jon “I was picking a plan just in case you didn’t find me when I remembered the notebook.”

She noticed Jason's eyes on her. He was trying to deliver a message, she guessed, Jason wanted her to know he knew she wasn’t normal.

And probably have a “nice” talk about whatever they’re going to do, or after dinner… or tomorrow. Marinette is going to ignore him, the longer she can escape from problem #2 the better.

Problem #1 was finding the solution to the nuisance in Paris. To Le Papillon and his sidekicks, Mayura and Lila.

“You were?” Jason grinned.

“Not my first time getting lost in an unknown city.” she shrugged. “weird, it has happened and not only once but more than twice.”

Now everyone was giving her odd looks, even Juleka and Luka, surely because she never told them that. Not that it mattered to her. 

“Weird is that your average Tuesday consists of the city where you live getting invaded by pigeons or rats.” Luka scoffed.

“Luka does have a point, Marinette.”

“I think we’ve addressed the fact that your city situation is odd and bizarre,” Stephanie hugged both girls from behind “but I’m sure you are here to take a break from it, so stop talking about it. Okay? And why don’t we play video games?” 

  
  
  


  
  


⤝☀⤞

Marinette wasn’t paying attention to them, once they started to play videogames. Her attention was elsewhere, on her phone. Kim was texting Marinette.

The boy was giving her some details about dinner next week. Kim wasn’t in Paris, for obvious reasons never spends his summer in France unless Marinette does. Which, until now has never happened, not even with her being Ladybug.

Chances are Kim is training or learning new magic, he’s a prodigy when it comes to magic.

Unlike Marinette who sucks at it.

Kim also told her that he won’t be able to join them at night, but he has a few ideas that could be of use. 

Kagami wasn’t going to join them either or Adrien was. 

Adrien was pretty much benched at this point, much to everyone’s dislike they had to vote to decide how often Adrien should be using his miraculous to transform, if they could slow down the consuming process in any way then, they would proceed to.

The black cat’s wielder only had permission to transform during Akuma attacks and two patrols per week.

Not even the kwamis knew when  _ that  _ would happen, they just clung their predictions were right, that it would take a long time. Hopefully, the moment will never come, hopefully, he will be down before  _ that  _ happens to Adrien.

If Marinette is as lucky as everyone says she is, it won’t happen.

Anyways, Marinette noted that they indeed had Ultra Mecha Strike III, and they didn’t know all of the game’s secrets, Marinette could beat them if she wanted.

But she wasn’t up to play today, too tired.

Marinette’s sudden change of humor didn’t pass imperceptible to Luka, because, when the petite  _ blue-eyed  _ girl arrived with the-always-scowling Damian Wayne who in all of these years knowing him had the same poker face (or scowl), instead he had a soft expression. 

The shock. 

Anyways, Marinette had a charming smile and got even more cheerful too when talking with Dick’s daughter. Then the smile disappeared, surely something was occupying her mind, like Adrien’s situation.

Everyone knew Marinette felt guilty. She couldn’t use her miraculous without the black cat being active or else. She was using him at the expense of his health, and as soon as Marinette found a potential wielder she was going to retrieve it from him.

She was going to take a part of Adrien and she was going to give it to someone else, and every one of his friends is keeping that part of them.

Chat Noir is going to disappear soon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Xiao: means little. Is a term of endearment, in this case, it's for Marinette's niece Mei-ling, so Xiao-Mei could be translated to Little Mei ( If I used wrong this term please let me know so, I can correct it).
> 
> Said niece is named after Mei-ling from Sakura Card Captor
> 
> OH! If you have doubts or something you can ask! Here or on my Tumblr account @midnightmode. I'll answer as soon as possible, because, the plot changed and it's expected for you to be confused, sorry.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Luka are being cryptid, and Max is lost, terribly lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my second time trying to post this.  
> IMPORTANT! Chapters 1,2, & 3 have been edited, please read them they have significant changes and chapter 4 has minor changes.
> 
> As always thanks to Anrim for the help <3
> 
> I had my struggles with this chapter, fun fact the first two or three scenes al were supposed to be the first scene of chapter 6. College happened too and made me struggle x2.
> 
> CW: DEPICTION OF BLOOD. I don't think it's graphic but better safe than sorry.

  
  


Marinette was amused about everything since the not-at-all-suspicious way (read as suspicious in capital letters)in which Luka managed to take her out of the gaming room. She was surprised, was she that transparent or it was just him reading her that good? Probably both, at least no one asked her a thing.

She enjoyed talking with Damian, their pretty awkward conversation made the stress ease a lot, and talking to Mar’ i was like being with Xiao-Mei, refreshing.

Oh! And she enjoyed ignoring Jason too. Totally worth it.

And now, Luka was dragging her all over the manor. He looked like he knew the place pretty well, unlike yesterday when Damian and Jon were showing them the house. Maybe, yesterday he was too tired to properly function.

It has happened to her, so it’s not that far-fetched, it’s a perfectly reasonable explanation.

That’s how both ended up in some bathroom bathtub. She just rolled with the craziness instead of questioning Luka, some mystery won’t hurt her. 

The curiosity was killing her, though, Marinette had spent too much time with Plagg that she understood the charm of it or more like thanks to all the time she had spent with the kwami throughout the years she had adopted some of his quirks and likings, like the way Chloé would stare at someone out of displeasure, she caught herself doing that once. 

Or like yesterday, when she ordered some kind of lunch with chipotle sauce out of her own volition as Kagami does. Marinette  _ had  _ to take her there, she would love the sauce.

“So… why a bathtub?” she couldn’t help herself, even though the dark-haired girl had convinced herself that the mystery wouldn’t hurt. 

“I wouldn’t be looking for us if I were them,” he gave a brief answer.

Marinette hummed. ‘Them’ probably were the Waynes, that means they like to snoop around, good thing Juleka was down there, and Cass if she had guessed what they were going to talk about. 

“Good point?” she raised an eyebrow “Who’s going to be present?”

It was hard to miss the occasional snorts and loving expressions Luka did while texting, making the accommodations for this. 

“Max, Adrien, Kagami, and Kim hasn't — ”

“Kim might not join us tonight, either way.” she interrupted him “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”

Luka’s phone buzzed before he could answer Marinette's apology. 

“Oh, it’s my girlfriend,” he said with a tender expression.

Marinette rolled her eyes. 

The fencer and the musician recently got together, more or less, they knew about their feelings but they didn’t know that the other had feelings for each other, or they chose to not change their status, until recently. All things considered, it made sense.

“So, what does future Ms. Tsurugi-Couffaine say?” she teased him.

“She’ll call in a few minutes,” he said “ and tell me, Marinette what about that scowling boy and you?”

“Too soon,” Marinette blushed, her big bluebell eyes settled on the hoodie’s green laces “but I can tell he’s really nice, we had a nice chat today, and he’s quite impatient,”

And handsome, but Marinette didn’t dare to say that out loud. She’d rather save the embarrassment for when the rest arrived.

“He  _ is,  _ Mari, I swear when my papa and Dick were trying us to get along, he once tried to bite me!” he whisper-screamed “That’s why Tim passed me some blackmail material. You never know when you’ll need it, I could pass it to you, just in case,” he shrugged.

Marinette giggled amused. 

“I would like to see them, I’m always open to blackmail material,” she grinned.

“Who isn’t?” Luka asked and Marinette snorted.

The boy with blue tips answered the call the moment Marinette’s tablet rang. Kagami appeared in front of the camera and smiled, then she approached Adrien’s orange couch in which Adrien and Max were already sitting.

“Pretty pink scarf you got there, Adrien.” Marinette saluted sweetly.

Both had a snarky grin on their faces. 

“I could say the same about your hoodie, sweet Nettie,” the blonde replied in a sweeter tone than the jet-black haired girl “but I know! The scarf combines with my new pink sneakers, cool, huh?” 

Adrien lifted one of his legs high enough to show said pink sneakers. Marinette stifled a laugh. “Well, pretty boy are you taking your concoctions?”

“I am, Kagami is reminding me to.”

The ‘more like threatening to’ kept unspoken, but heavily implied by the way Adrien strained his voice.

“Well, Kagami keep doing your thing, I approve.” Marinette gave her thumbs up.

Kagami smiled. “I would have, even if you didn’t approve, Nettie.”

“Good.”

“Hey!” Adrien complained.

The other two boys cackled at Adrien’s expenses.

“I don’t want you to complain,  _ Athanase _ .” the blue-eyed girl narrowed her eyes at Adrien, he winced at the mention of his second name “Kagami wouldn’t be doing her thing if you weren’t such a whiny baby to take them.” Marinette sighed “Kitty, I just want you to be in your top form. I know it’s hard, but you have to do your part. It will get better, I promise.”

“How are you so sure?” he questioned her, doubt in his voice.

Marinette would be lying if she said that it didn’t hurt.

“You know what? I am tired of secrets.” she huffed “Your cousin’s wife is not normal, none of her family is, that girl is super duper good for corrupted things and people. Right, Plagg?”

She felt the stares over her, Tikki’s especially. The kwami was shooting daggers at her, this is why she called out to Plagg instead of Tikki, she would never go with the flow, unlike Plagg.

“Pigtails ain’t lying. She is good with her thing just like, the girl at your side is.” they listened to Plagg’s voice since he couldn’t be seen in the camera. 

Adrien suddenly seemed to catch up on what they said, or so it appeared because he no longer had a blank expression.

“What? You know her?”

“I mean, I go to Shanghai every summer, she lives there. Master Fu lived with them for a while, so, yes I know her.”

‘Because I am her!’ 

Marinette lied and she hated every second of it, she had promised Fé she wouldn’t tell him yet. She just had to wait for August to come, just a little longer and bye-bye secrets and lies.

Just a little longer.

“Anyways, what do you have for tonight Max?” she actively changed the theme, hopefully, Max would get the message.

“Ah! Oh, yeah, right, Luka passed me some recurrent spots and its coordinates where they are usually seen. I did more research and found a pattern.” he commented “It was a lot of fun.

“I bet it was,” Luka added “so that pattern will be our route?”

“That’s the idea.”

“How are you going to get their attention if they don’t follow your pattern, Max?” Kagami asked.

“I considered the possibilities, which are low. But three teens running on roofs with flashy outfits  _ and  _ talking or yelling in french will do the trick for us,” he said as a matter-of-fact.

“Yeah, I think that Max’s plan will work, but obviously the second could do. But we want to find them tonight.” Adrien said, “We’ll talk later Marinette.”

“Not today, or tomorrow.”

**⤝☀⤞**

  
  
  


It was past midnight, and there were no traces or glimpses of Batman. Or any of his partners, and that was incredible since there were as many vigilantes in Gotham as there were in Paris.

Meanwhile, Marinette’s other two teammates Viperion and Pegase looked fresh; Max looked as fresh as lettuce, Luka could’ve looked better, and Marinette regretted so bad listening to inspiration last night. The lack of sleep was doing things to her. She would rather be very much alive in the morning, but they still had to wait at least two hours more, that was the deal they made earlier.

It would be easier for her if Kagami was here or Alix, or Chloé, but the last two girls were the enemies in this case, and Kagami wasn’t here.

Sadly, both Adrien and Kagami had a friendly match with a few people whose names were said but Marinette’s mind didn’t care to retain. Not that Adrien would have come even if he didn’t have that activity tomorrow, Kagami might have come, though.

Ladybug placed her hands on her mouth as a reflex before loudly yawning.

“Sleepy, Ladybug?” Viperion asked her, with a cocky smile.

“Don’t tempt me to jinx you, snake.” she hissed back at him, Pegase stifled a laugh in the back.

Viperion didn’t react at all to the threat, while she was capable of fulfilling the menace, the blue-haired girl was too tired to actually do it. Marinette likes to jinx people when they bother her a lot. Usually, they weren’t harmful, just funny.

Funny to her, not the person who got jinxed, unless it was Adrien, but he’s a nerd and a dork so, he doesn’t count.

“I told you to get some sleep after finishing the meeting, instead you went down to beat them at UM3. Of course, you’re sleepy, dummy.” the older boy scolded her.

“Well, I regret nothing,” she stated, proudly “because I got to drink actual coffee after dinner, and it got me working-”

“And anxious, to say that you called Queen Bee and you talked to her for almost an hour.” Viperion made an addition to her sentence before she could finish it.

Ladybug sulked, sitting down on the edge of the building where they were.

“Because your sister was somewhere else,” she crossed her arms over her chest.

Coffee always gets Marinette pretty jumpy after two to three cups, and if she wasn’t lying about only one cup of coffee, that meant she got to drink Tim’s blend. Because Tom and Sabine won’t let her drink more than one cup of coffee per day, they say caffeine in general messes up with her sleep schedule, which is already terribly messed up.

“Yeah, she said she was recharging her energies for these two days,” he said, smiling at the memory of Juleka sleeping in all of her goth glory.

His little sister loved Gotham for its gloomy atmosphere, she had once said that she would move to the city if she didn’t love Paris more. Besides, Gotham made a chill run through her back every ten minutes.

It might be quite an exaggeration, but in certain spots of the city, she felt a perpetual chill.

“What do you say, guys, shall we run again?” Pegase asked them.

“I say yes, what about you?” Viperion asked for Ladybug’s opinion, pretty sure she would say no, instead he found her considering it.

“Sure, I need to clear my mind about… whether or not I need to spill things once we find them and actually get to talk with him.” she sighed tiredly.

They talked about this earlier, about how reluctant Batman will be about believing them about everything. Marinette thought it would be beneficial for them to spill some of their secrets. Because, it was no secret that Marinette had lots of them, that Kim knew she was part of them, and according to Adrien, Nino was in it too.

The last person took him by surprise the first time Adrien had told them so, Luka thought he was joking around when he said that because it was only a suspicion it made less credible the fact Nino isn’t in the team. 

Then again, the blond was never wrong about his feeling in the gut. He has from time to time.

Well, except for that time in which he was convinced that Marinette and Kim were secretly dating. The confrontation didn’t go fine at all.

Thinking about it, Max knows a bit about that. He knows exactly where Marinette and Kim go every major school break, and every other month usually on weekends.

Pegase knows because he’s the one who brings them to Paris and back to that place when an Akuma attacks.

Ladybug and Viperion jumped almost at the same time to the following building, without putting a big effort into it. She barely landed gracefully, while Viperion did it quite well.

“Wait! I didn’t know we were starting now!” he shouted, totally outraged by Pegase’s friend’s sudden actions.

“Just jump! We’re leaving you behind!” Luka stopped to shout back at him. Marinette was three-building ahead of them, she wouldn’t be stopping any time soon.

“I noticed,” he sighed, and then proceeded to follow his friends.

Hoping that they’ll be noticed this way, after all, they’re a trio of teenagers in flashy outfits jumping and running on the roofs, and talking or yelling in french will do enough for them as Max had said.

Otherwise, they’re doomed. Cleaning duty at the base for three months.

  
  


**⤝☀⤞**

Jason knew there was something wrong when he arrived at the manor last night. 

Because, last time he checked there was no other powerful energy coming from inside it, and the only one in the family who had an aura similar to this one was him. Like, none.

That only meant one of the guests had it, which was odd as he is sure that their guests are as normal as any family that was friends with the Wayne family could be. Which only leads to two possibilities, one they were famous and rich, or two they were fellow heroes; although they don’t consider themselves heroes, because vigilantes is a more fitting term.

Well, sometimes he is more an anti-hero than a vigilante depending on the day.

The answer is option number one.

Jagged Stone was Bruce’s childhood friend. And the only one who stuck with him through the pass of the time. He was the self-proclaimed uncle who personally visited every one of them when they were adopted by Bruce, the very same uncle that gave them gifts for every birthday, Christmas, and children’s day (they still received those ones, though) no matter what happened.

Then the Couffaine siblings come, Luka and Juleka, both always had a weird aura before he could even sense it, they just were like that. Then the Lazarus’ Pit happened, and he felt all of those things better, so much that he noticed when Luka’s got stronger, and Juleka’s too, but there was a significant gap between the siblings.

And Penny, Jagger's wife, she's normal. There’s not so much to say about her, since Jason barely knows her, the kids like her lots, and that was enough for him. 

So, that only left the designer: Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Jagged’s honorary niece, known as MDC in the fashion business, a prodigy designer, a bi-racial kid. She also has to take meds for-who-knows-what.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng is the source of his anxiety right now. 

Because first of all how did she get Damian, The Demon Spawn to act that tame? That doesn’t seem natural to him.

“I’m sure she’s hiding something,” Jason commented to everyone else at the Batcave after Cass asked him why was he glaring at Marinette “I can sense it!”

Dick rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure, whatever lets you sleep at night, Jay.”

“I’m telling you there’s something weird with that girl!” he exclaimed.

No one replied to Jason’s rambling, instead a collective sigh was echoed through the BatCave. Jason huffed in response.

“Passing to relevant matters, what did Marinette pass you, Tim?” Steph was dying to see the data, it was written all over her face.

“Codenames.” Batman scolded them, while entering the room, Steph mumbled a shallow apology “But Batgirl is right, what did she send you?”

“Uhhh, what do you want to see?” he asked “I haven’t finished all of them, Marinette’s friends sure have a lot of material. I have two different files, the first one is some recorded fights, interviews, and short reports of what it’s known about them,” he paused “Marinette’s friend is super organized. And the other file is full of the Miraculous Team, as they call them, making fools of themselves?” he awkwardly says.

“The first one,” Cass said.

“But, we’re watching the funny ones later, right?” Duke asked and everyone gave him a look of disapproval.

He scoffed offended but clarified “Don’t give me that look, we can observe their dynamics if we watch them, and I’ll admit it, I want to have a good laugh.” 

“I agree,” Batgirl vouched for Signal.

“You realize they are in french?” Nightwing smirked “because last I knew, none of you don't speak the language.”

Both young adults rolled their eyes, Steph pouted. “Well, that won’t stop us from laughing.”

Jason didn’t mind the situation at all, although he found it interesting that Damian didn’t react at all.

The boy wasn’t even reacting at his brothers and Steph’s bickering, he was blatantly ignoring their bickering, and instead was somewhat paying attention to whatever Jon was saying to him.

“Play the videos, we need to start patrol at some point,” Batman said.

Red Robin did just as he was ordered. The first video immediately got everyone’s attention, two young kids, a girl, and a boy, both in a full-body spandex suit and what appeared to be leather, respectively, were fighting a huge monster made of stone with glowing yellow - ish eyes. 

If he said that kids shouldn’t be doing things like this, then Jason would be a huge hypocrite.

He had to admit that judging by appearances they kind of knew what they were doing. They totally were inexperienced but they sure knew how to fight. This was their first time on the battlefield, the kids were efficient nonetheless the monster was defeated pretty soon.

Although Ladybug was disoriented at the beginning of the fight, she took the hang of the things quickly. He had to admit it, if something similar happened to him, he'd react like that too, and by the looks of it, she was a kid.

“The date reads September 4, the year 2014, title: Ceour de Pierre,” Oracle stated. “I think that’s the monster's name? I don’t understand how something this big escaped from everyone.”

“Magic,” Cass said.

“Yeah it’s like magic,” Steph nodded enthusiastically.

“I think she meant that  _ it is  _ magic,” Tim corrected her smugly, to no one’s surprise Steph smacked him on the back, “Ow! You hit me in a nerve or something because that stings, Steph!”

“What a baby, I didn’t hit you that hard!”

Tim muttered gibberish frowning hard and played the next video. The date from this video and the previous one only had a day of difference. Poor kids, not even two days had passed since the first one and the purple creep decided to attack again. 

He truly deserved all of those despective nicknames and more.

They watched as a swarm of butterflies in a sickly purple position in front of the Eiffel tower, the butterflies shaped a face, Le Papillon’s face.

“The thing I can’t understand is why does he want those jewels?”

“Because, the jewels are what makes them,  _ them.” _ Damian replied in automatic “He has a brooch I think, Mayura has a pin?”

They all turned to see the raven-haired boy was leaning on the wall, rubbing his temples. Jason had to admit that he looked in pain.

“How do you know that?” Jon asked to his side “and you okay? It looks like you’re having a serious headache”

“Because I am having one,” he said flatly “as for the other one, I’m not sure why, but I am certain of it.”

  
  
  
  
  


**⤝☀⤞**

Max was antsy, he felt as if his stomach were twisting, at least he didn’t feel his palms or feet sweat, that was the worst and all thanks to a certain bat that hasn’t appeared yet, okay, he might have made plans for the next two months.

He regrets everything.

“No sightings yet?” Ladybug yawned.

To think that she looked so awake at the beginning of the night, Marinette might as well fall anytime soon if they don’t find them.

He won’t be the one to wake her up if she does fall asleep. None of his friends were good risers, but her, the girl in the magical suit takes the prize to the worst riser in history. 

So, no thanks, Max Kanté wants to live. 

“I’m afraid not, Ladybug.”

“Gee, Batman and I thought you had some extra-sensorial ability that told you when another hero was in your city.” she mumbled half-asleep. “Terrible service, zero out of ten. Would not recommend it.”

“Same.” Viperion was fighting to not laugh hard, if Max was honest then he was doing the same thing. “Well, then shall we take a nap?”

Max winced, why would they take a nap on the roof of a building? And in Gotham of all places.

“Are you going to wake her up? Because I’m not” Pegase argued back to him.

“You know I’m still awake, right?” 

“Are you?” Viperion mocked her.

“Probably.” she yawned again.

\---

A familiar scent soared through the air. Marinette didn’t feel like falling asleep anymore, being Ladybug enhanced all of her senses, abilities included, that meant, her ability to sense people's scent was incremented.

Which meant that the Lazarus’ Pit she felt in the air was about ten times stronger than outside the suit, it was sickening. 

“ _ W-what’s that? _ ” Max stood up as it was getting closer.

Oh, yeah, even people with no aptitude for these things could feel it with the adequate miraculous. But Marinette wasn’t afraid, every scent was easy to distinguish between a person from another.

This was Jason’s. The blue-haired heroine would be lying if she had to say she wasn’t afraid, but she knew he didn’t mean any harm, or else she would feel it.

“ _ Don’t fret Pegase, he will know if you’re afraid.”  _ she patted his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

Ladybug might be shaking a little bit.

“ _ This feels like-” _

_ “Don’t push our luck Viperion, and it is.”  _ Ladybug firmly interrupted him, Jason was a roof away from them, Jason was the Red Hood. 

“ _ Oh! And he’s not by himself, nice.”  _ she relaxed a bit, only a bit.

They saw another man, shorter than Red Hood. Nightwing in fact was accompanying him. At least if things got out of control Nightwing would know they weren’t up to the blame.

That was comforting. 

“ _ I owe my sister,”  _ Viperion muttered amused, his eyes drifted towards Ladybug and she snorted “ _ Her theory was right, they are related!” _

_ “What are you two talking about?”  _ Pegase almost shouts.

_ “Tell you later, they’re close, and I know Nightwing speaks french fluently, I’d rather not startle them.”  _ the older boy whispered

Pegase narrows his eyes at Ladybug who just shrugs. “ _ Promise?” _

_ “Duh, of course.” _

And they landed.

“Well, well, who do we have here?” Red Hood asks.

Ladybug couldn’t help but cackle thanks to Jason’s helmet. This helmet in particular had the shape of a face, it had the resemblance to those templates of ‘a perfect face’, since the cheekbones, the lips, and the nose. It was a funny helmet. 

“I’m sorry, I just-” she leaned into Viperion’s arm, and kept laughing “I was  _ so  _ scared, but your helmet! Sorry!”

“Yeah, I’m not particularly fond of that helmet in particular either, and then he says I’m the one with no sense of fashion in the family,” Nightwing mutters the last part. “Anyways, you are Ladybug, right? And the other two are Pegase and Viperion?”

Max gaped, for a second she forgot he doesn’t know what they do. “ _ He shouldn’t know about us, Ladybug!”  _

_ “My barriers of glamour are fine if that’s what you meant.”  _ she huffed offended. “I think it’s quite evident I’m Ladybug, and yes these two are Viperion and Pegase, and if I’m not wrong you are Nightwing and Red Hood.”

“That’s right, but what brings Paris’ little lady here to gloomy Gotham?” Red Hood directed the question to her.

Of course, this was going to happen.

Jason is just reacting to the magic of her suit, there’s no way he will discover who she is. Not even with all of that chaos over him, will he see through the glamour. He won’t. Besides, Ladybug feels different from Marinette, somewhat similar, but different.

That’s what Bridgette had told her once. 

He was just doing the same as earlier, she tried to keep in mind. Ladybug feels different from Marinette, she reminded herself.

“I think that I have to remind you, that I didn’t come alone, Monsieur Red Hood.” she gritted her teeth and smiled at him.

She glanced at Pegase, Ladybug gave him the signal for him to talk.

“About our reasons as to why we came to Gotham, those are… somewhat complicated to explain. The others and us, don’t think it’s a good idea to talk about that in such a public space.” 

“I assume, you came here to talk to Batman, then.”

Ladybug nodded but preferred to remain in silence. 

“That’s the idea.” Viperion smiled awkwardly at Nightwing. “We originally planned this to happen quite differently, but yeah, ”

“Can we talk to him, please?” the petite girl asked politely.

“Why should we let you?”

He was getting onto her nerves. ‘Just calm down Marinette, breathe.’

“I’m done talking with you,” she pointed at Red Hood “so, Monsieur Nightwing, can we see him?”

Nightwing snorted. “B says that since we were already considering looking for you, why not? Not his’ words but, yeah, he wants to meet you.”

“ _ No cleaning duty for three months, boys. _ ” she turned back to the boys.

“ _ Indeed,  _ Bug. _ ” _

**⤝☀⤞**

The three kids were talking on the corner in hushed whispers, nothing relevant for them at least, Nightwing had figured out that if they say something that was meant to be heard for their ears they made sure whatever they were speaking was loud and clear. 

Sometimes in English. He had no doubt they were good kids.

“Hey, is he arriving soon?” Ladybug's words slurred down, she was tired, it was easy to tell.

Dick was actually worried about that, he blamed his inner dad as he kept over-thinking. At least the Titans had the back-up from the previous generations of titans and other adults that were superheroes too, and it appears they had none, no adult to lean on.

Just a bunch of kids defending their city, somewhat similar to what Billy passed, he supposed it was worse since these kids were on an entirely different continent.

Not a city or state, or even country, a continent.

“ETA five minutes, he said that like ten minutes ago. Something must have come up, this is Gotham, after all.”

“No kidding.” she groaned, Viperion lost it at her side and Pegase snorted.

“I don’t follow,”

“Guess you wouldn’t, I would tell you but, uhhh...” she made a funny face “my identity might or might not be compromised, we don’t know the extent of glamour magic. We’d rather not abuse it.”

Sometimes magic was the coolest thing, sometimes it wasn’t especially when it turned to be confusing and weird. Like now, because last he recalled, magic and technology don’t mix well, so how come they had ‘cell phones’ that also were their weapons.

“Right, magic. I like my life the way it is, thanks.”

The kids snorted at his comment. Jason too. 

“I miss my life when it was like that too, simple and boring.” Pegase leaned against the wall behind them.

“And then you say Chat Noir is the drama queen,” she giggled “but you’re mistaken, our lives have never been simple and boring. Otherwise, we couldn’t have made it so far,” 

There was more to her words, he wondered if she meant what Dick thinks she did.

“You mean, as in all of you would be dead?” Jason asked.

It was easy to read that Red Hood didn’t like Ladybug at all, he was acting pretty rude toward her but she didn’t react the way Dick would’ve expected from a kid her age, neither Jason was acting as he should, but, yeah he was happy with the way Ladybug was handling his little brother.

He also isn’t sure how old she is, or they in general. Ladybug looks younger than the other two boys, however, looks are known to deceive. Who knows maybe she’s the older in the team.

Ladybug nodded, “Yeah, but not all of us. I meant Chat Noir and I, our lives were already complicated before the madness started, if we weren’t able to handle it, yeah we would be dead by now.”

She talked so naturally about the possibility of dying, it made his guts twist.

“But permanently.”

Oh God, this was why she said that without hesitation. 

“You’ve died more than once!?” his left eye began to twitch. 

Dick Grayson was done with this.

“I don't think they knew that Bug,” Viperion whispered to her, and Ladybug’s eyes widened.

\---

“ _ Oh,  _ but we really don’t remember when or how we died, and it’s super rare, it’s fine! I promise,” 

The blue-haired girl shifted nervously under both grown men's shocked gaze, she knew what she had said wasn’t comforting, nonetheless, it would have the same effect even if they were adults, just that they weren’t and that was pretty much ten times worse.

“Yep, pretty much everyone in Paris has died at least once at this point, hero or not.” Pegase tried to save the situation, he got a scoff by Jason.

“That doesn’t make it any better kids,” Red Hood said.

Max hummed. “We know, but facts are facts.” 

Marinette was thinking how much of a good time it would be for Batman and company, she does not care who arrives first but someone has to because the boys and Red Hood are talking about dying and Nightwing looked so done, his left eye hasn’t stopped twitching for a few minutes.

Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but his eye has been twitching a lot.

And she knows now Red Hood can be civil with her teammates, it’s just her who he likes to provoke.

Dick perked up suddenly. “Batman says he’s arriving in a few seconds!”

Oh, well, after everything gets resolved she can finally die in peace, now that monsieur Batman is here to help, probably, if he wants to, or if he deems them worthy of his sacred attention, but yeah if he does deems them worthy of his attention she will die peacefully.

“Sweet,” Viperion said, he turned to her and his eyes widened in shock.

And then there was this other thing, apparently, the well-kept secret identities of Gotham’s vigilantes were not-so-secret for them anymore, the worst part is that no one  _ knows _ they know _.  _ The rest of this summer was going to be such a nightmare.

“What did you expect? Madness  _ is _ our normal” she shot at him a flat look.

“Well, for once I know that calvary awaits for us,”

“You will tell me what you’re talking about, right?” Max narrowed their eyes at them.

Both nodded. “Now let’s shut up, he’s entering.”

Batman didn’t come alone, Robin, Red Robin, and Black Bat entered with him, through an opening in the ceiling of the warehouse. She was so grateful they were the only ones to arrive, and hopefully, the only ones to come.

Ladybug isn’t sure she’s able to handle that many people at this hour of the night. 

They went to where Nightwing and Red Hood were and started to discuss, she’s pretty sure that it’s about them. The blue-haired girl began to hum a melody while the time passed, catching brief and curious glances from the members of the batfamily. 

Or weary, or both. She was too drowsy to properly distinguish the difference between their expressions. If she asked Luka or Max their response would sound gibberish to her ears, this is what it took for her to feel  _ this  _ sleepy just a few seconds..

“ _ Sleepy much?”  _ Viperion asked her.

“ _ Hmmm, did you say something?”  _ she rubbed her eyes.

_ “I’ll take that as a yes,”  _ the eldest boy out of the Parisian trio sighed “ _ We’re sleeping past midday tomorrow, aren’t we?” _

_ “To-ta-lly,”  _ Marinette answered flatly. She wasn’t so eager to go out tomorrow as she was earlier, it will be fine as long as they don’t go early. Past midday sounds good, four or three p.m. would be great.

“ _ Awake are we now?”  _ Max chuckled, he had his eyes glued on the holographic screen, he must have felt her stare, because he turned his head to see her,“ _ I’m updating M. Ramier’s records, and taking notes on what has happened tonight.” _

_ “Visual media included. I suppose, right?” _

He smiled. “ _ Of course I included visual media, it would be weird of me if I hadn’t.” _

Ladybug shrugged. _ “You’re not wrong, it would be weird for you,” _

“ _ Agreed, _ ” Viperion said nonchalantly.

They bursted into cheerful laughter, Marinette’s stress eased up and so did her sleepiness.

“ _ Mhhh… the photos you took of Wayne Tower are great, did you take some of Gotham’s bridge too? I bet A- Bunnyx will love them,” _

“Hey, kids!” Nightwing called them. 

“Yeah?” the three asked at the same time.

Before they could even blink, the bats were already in front of them. Frankly, that’s pretty scary.

“Oh, greeting Monsieur Batman and company, we are so grateful you agreed to come,”

  
  


**⤝☀⤞**

Adrien stared at his reflection in the mirror, he looked so bad, almost dead he would dare to say. 

He wiped out the stains of blood and whatever that black matter was off of his mouth, he felt how a blood clot and that black matter went up through his throat and he spat it out. Gross.

“She met her cat, didn’t she?” the blond asked Plagg.

“That’s the hopefull option, isn't it?” 

The boy hummed in response and headed to where his concoctions were. “Should I take two? What do you say Plagg?”

“Do that,” Adrien nodded and drank both as if it were a shot.

“Kit, this changes everything,” 

“Oh, I know, but I can’t talk about this via message or call, it shall be done the next time we see each other, so, Monday or next Akuma attack,”

“Text her, tell her something came up,”

“Nope, it can wait. She needs her rest, I bet two wheels of camembert she hasn’t had more than five hours of sleep this past two days.” he wiggled his eyebrows.

“Fine, two days, I am serious about this, kit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?
> 
> I promise I didn't want to go for that route(?) but my mind had other plans. I'm enjoying the angst a lot :p
> 
> I have a drawing of the scarf that Adrien borrowed from Marinette and the hoodie Marinette borrowed from Adrien, I might or might not post it on my tumblr account: @midnightmode
> 
> As well as some designs I will be posting of the re-design of Ladybug's, Queen Bee's, Bunnyx's, and Ryuuko's, I have one and two halfway, Kagami's is hard, I have nothing about that one.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll try to post a new chapter every two weeks, but I promise nothing


End file.
